Benitez ‘expects better services’ as ‘yes to JVA’ votes win

"We are heading in the right direction because of the reasons I stated before. Hopefully, it will be properly implemented and we can expect better services."

This was stressed by Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez on Tuesday, September 5, after the Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Ceneco) met the threshold number required to approve its joint venture agreement (JVA) with Primelectric Holdings, Inc., leading to cancel its scheduled plebiscite on September 2-3.

Benitez said consumers should “be vigilant and monitor the next steps they undertake to improve their services.”

"We want them to keep all the promises that they agreed with the consumers and the local government unit," he said.

Benitez earlier set three conditions to favor the JVA, such as lower electricity rates, 24/7 power supply, and conversion to renewable power.

"They submitted their plans on how to achieve that. All of us will be watching them," Benitez said.

The mayor noted that during his first State of the City Address (Soca), he announced that by 10 to 15 years, the city will be completely renewable.

"But based on our initial discussion, 10 to 15 years is too long. We are hoping to achieve this status (of completely renewable) by as early as next year, which means we will be using renewable sources of power for all of our electricity needs," Benitez said.

Lawyer Arnel Lapore, acting general manager of Ceneco, earlier said that Ceneco has a total of 178,236 eligible voters.

He said that based on the results of the plebiscite conducted in June and August, they have a total of 98,591 "yes" votes; 6,899 "no" votes, 48 spoiled ballots, and two abstentions.

"As of August 27, the 98,591 ‘yes’ votes correspond to 55.31 percent of the total number of eligible voters. Therefore, the threshold of 50 percent plus one was already achieved, and National Electrification Administration (NEA) has approved and directed the Ceneco to conclude the plebiscite," he added.

Lapore noted that the result of the plebiscite will be transmitted to NEA for information and appropriate action.

For his part, Roel Castro, president and chief executive officer of More Power, said the result of the plebiscite will be proclaimed by NEA, which is part of the procedure.

He said he has already met with the officials of Ceneco to ensure that all concerns will be treated fairly and that they will be very honest about what has been said or what really happened.

“There’s nothing to fear. We would like to make this as smooth as possible, especially for the consumers. At the end of the day, the reason why this JVA was proposed is because we would like to make sure that the ultimate beneficiaries would be the consumers,” he added.

Castro also clarified that they will not lay-off the Ceneco employees.

“We are not taking over Ceneco, so we are not laying off the employees. They are still employees of Ceneco, and it’s up to Ceneco now if they want to retire. We open the positions, and if they would like to apply, they are free to apply,” Castro said.

Once they are able to come in, he said that they will spend P2 billion for the rehabilitation, improvement, and modernization of the facilities at Ceneco.

Castro also assured to meet the three conditions set by Benitez, such as renewable energy, better service, and no brownout.

“This JVA is really intended for the consumers to bring better service, competitive rates, and make them feel that what they are paying is worth it in terms of services, among other things,” Castro said.

Moreover, Castro said that once they have the franchise, which still needs the certificate public safety convenience and necessity (CPSCN), a license granted by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the Negros Electric Power Corporation (NEPC) can take over Ceneco.*